For the Love of Akane's Cooking
by brindani
Summary: Akane tries her hand at cooking with an unusual outcome. Will she and Ranma be able to handle the unique position they find themselves in? Not a RanmaXAkane fic.
1. Here’s Ranko!

Author's notes: Yet another story rattling around in my head that demanded to be typed out. Despite the title this is not an Akane/Ranma fic. Thanks goes to Shinji the good sharer's website for ideas regarding the future of this story. The story, however, has not been proof-read so may contain a few errors despite my best efforts to eliminate them. Anyone interested in proof-reading just send a message to brindani2000(at symbol)yahoo(dot)com.

Disclamer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any characters used within the storyline. I'm not that lucky

**For the Love of Akane's Cooking**

By: brindani

Chapter 1: Here's Ranko!

"Come on, Kasumi, just let me cook dinner one more time," Akane pleaded next to her sister as she hung the wash in the back yard.

"Akane, what did I tell you last time?"

"That I couldn't cook ever again. I know, I know, but I really want to."

"Why do you want to cook, Akane? Is it because you need Ranma to acknowledge you as a good cook?"

"NO! I… just want everyone in the family to recognize I can cook too."

Pinning up the last of the cloths, Kasumi sighed before turning back to Akane with a strained smile. She stopped when she found herself facing a large eyed Akane staring at her pleadingly. Closing her eyes, Kasumi offered a prayer to any god that still might be listening to them that she was not about to make a large mistake. "Akane, I'll give you one last chance…"

"You won't regret it Kasumi…" Akane gushed before being interrupted.

"…on the condition that you make it with love. I've watched you cook before and you always do it with conviction and determination, but not care and tenderness. If you want to show Ranma that you care for him, you need to show him through the love and patience you put into preparing the food you make for him."

Akane frowned that Kasumi thought the food was for Ranma, but put it aside as her sister had allowed her to make dinner. "I promise, Kasumi." She said with a bright smile before turning around.

Kasumi smiled as she watched her little sister run back into the house. She was growing up so fast. She even wanted to make meals for her future husband. Such a mature purpose unfortunately joined by misguided cooking. "Good, I'll make sure that everyone else is preoccupied." Kasumi said to herself, knowing that if Akane did heed her words it would mean nothing unless the family was there to appreciate it. If Akane didn't, it would be the last time that they would have to deal with it.

* * *

Akane stood in the kitchen with a thoughtful expression on her face. 'What should I make that will finally shut that annoying _boy_ up about my cooking?' Snapping her fingers, Akane started in. She took out a large pot and filled it with water setting it to boil. 

'I'll make udon. I can't mess up anything that simple.' Akane thought as she put the full pot on top of the stove.

'Now for ingredients.' Akane thought to herself as she turned around to look on the opposite counter. There she found that Kasumi was in the middle of some spring cleaning and had left several items out. Akane looked closer at the various objects, letting the memories sweep through her. Recognizing one, she brought a broad brim hat close to her face taking a deep breath of the carefully stitched roses on the side of the hat. 'Mom's old hat. She used to wear it ever time we went to the playground. I still remember her smiling face as she pushed me on the swing set.' Akane thought with a small smile.

Reluctantly setting the hat down, Akane began to sort through what else was arrayed on the table before her. There were several herbs left over from some of Shampoo's more interesting visits, and... Oh my, her fifth grade science project. She lifted the ribbon that lay on top of it.

"Award for most unusual project." Akane read aloud. She frowned after looking into the plain cardboard canister to find several black globs with several things that looked like they may have been walnuts. 'This isn't my science project. These were some cookies I made for the other children that I happened to place in easy reach on the table with the other projects. Why would the teachers think this was my science project?' Shrugging to herself, Akane continued to search through the various items.

So deep in thought, Akane failed to notice the first signs of water boiling over its pot. When she did, her eyes went wide as she dashed back and franticly tried to blow on the boiling water.

"Something has to make the water stop boiling. What is it! Oh yeah salt!" Reaching back, Akane grabbed a bottle on the counter labeled ancient Chinese herbs and dumped them in.

Sigh, "That came close." Akane exclaimed as the water stopped boiling and turned a lovely shade of violet. "Now, for the seasoning." Opening several cupboards, Akane pulled out some seasonings she had seen Kasumi use for several of her best dishes. "Dash of sugar, some cinnamon should blend in well with that. Maybe some pepper." Akane appeared to arbitrarily grab behind her and accidentally threw in several globs from her fifth grade _project_ along with a large assortment of other things.

Akane stopped briefly as she felt she was forgetting something. "Oh, yeah, Kasumi said to make this with love." She briefly thought to herself, a frown marring her expression. "How do you make something with love? Maybe I could just talk to it?" Akane thought it was weird, but if Kasumi said it would work, who was she to argue?

Dumping in a large box of udon noodles, Akane began to stir. 'What should I say to help mix in love? I guess thinking out loud will work. Let's see, I want Ranma to like this so I should talk about him. Ranma or Ranko depending on the weather' Akane giggled to herself. "Ranko is a good name for you" Akane said out-loud while thinking about several occasions where Ranma in his girl form would have all sorts of adventures with wild abandon.

Briefly, Akane frowned as she remembered their earlier argument. 'Ranma called me uncute again today. I didn't like that. I wonder why he says those things to me? I'm not uncute; at least I don't think so. Still, compared to all those other girls chasing him…' Akane frowned a tear crossing her cheek. 'What would it take to capture Ranma's heart?' "You would definitely have to be an excellent cook to get Ranma's attention."

Akane's eyes glazed as she imagined an image of herself on national TV with a stylish chef's hat smiling at a half dozen cameras while playfully pushing Ranma back as he begged on hands and knees to have the privilege of tasting her cooking one more time.

"Yeah, being a world famous cook would help, but all the other girls can do that too. There would have to be something else you would have to do to get his attention. If you got rid of his curse…"

Akane envisioned herself with glasses and a lab coat critically measuring chemicals in a test tube, Ranma nervously watching the results from over her shoulder. With a flourish, dream Akane handed the vile to Ranma who took a large swallow of the concoction. With a small poof Ranma laughed with joy as he dumped a bucket of cold water over himself and didn't change. Running up to Akane, he twirled her around as she demurely accepted his praise.

"That would really help, but you would have to be really good looking to compete against all the other girls after his heart." Akane mumbled to herself as she took a glace at herself. "Maybe if you had Ranma's cursed side's figure…"

Akane saw herself still being twirled around by an uncursed Ranma as she drank the other half of the vial's contents. Another small poof and Akane's hips shrank as her bust enlarged dramatically forming a perfect hourglass figure. Dream Ranma bringing her down for a deep passionate kiss before telling her how beautiful she is.

Akane giggled as the fantasy dissipated. "With all that, surly Ranma couldn't help to fall in love with you." Akane continued to fantasize as she stirred the pot, it happily burbling along with the voice above it.

* * *

Ranma drowsily sat on the roof, gazing out into the city. It had been a very good day. First, it was a Sunday so he didn't have to go to that boring old school. Second, Pops had gone drinking last night and remained in a drunken stupor that morning. That meant Ranma was able to sleep in until 9:00 AM an almost unheard of event. Third Kasumi had saved his food from breakfast. Fourth not one person had dropped by to disturb him so he was able to just layback and relax. And fifth, Akane and he had only had a brief verbal tussle which hadn't even resulted in him getting hit. 

Overall, this had to be the best day Ranma had ever had since coming. If Ranma had been anything more then half asleep, he would have realized that karma would not allow such travesty.

"Ranma, are you up there?" Ranma shook his head several times to rid himself of the lazy sleepiness before answering.

"Yes, Kasumi? Did you need something?"

"Oh no, I just wanted to call you down for dinner."

"Thanks Kasumi." Ranma smiled, 'One of Kasumi's glorious feasts, I guess the day can get better.'

Rolling off the roof, Ranma landed lightly on his feet before walking into the house to sit at the table.

Eventually, all the other residents of the household assembled, including the fathers who looked like they might still have a hangover, probably from some additional drinking during the day if their breath was any indication.

Ranma continued to smile as he sat there, his stomach in happy expectation for the meal to come. Still, something in the back of his minds was tripping off warning lights. Finding it a little annoying, Ranma took a closer look at his surroundings to find the cause.

'There's pops, and Tendo just getting over the hangover. There's Nabiki with her nose in a ledger, nothing wrong there. Kasumi is sitting angelically in her usual spot. Nope nothing wrong with the picture at all… Wait, what is Kasumi sitting for when there is no food on the table? The only time Kasumi does not bring out the food is when she doesn't cook. Mom isn't here to cook so who is cooking? WAIT A MINUTE! WHERE IS AKANE!'

Ranma's eyes widened as they began a frantic search of the kitchen entrance. There was no smoke billowing out, but the smells that permeated the room weren't exactly good either.

Without warning, a nightmare walking wallaced into the dinning room, or rather Akane in an apron came in with a rather large pot.

If Ranma had been paying attention to anything other then the horror before him, he would have noticed everyone else was also riveted on the only standing member of the house, their eyes wide with fear, several of the smarter ones already inching away from the table, ready to bolt at the first signs of indigestion.

Victoriously, Akane placed the pot onto the center of the table and opened it with a flourish. She gazed at each person expectantly with her excited smile. "Well, what do you think?"

Gingerly, afraid for his life, Ranma lifted himself from his seat to look into the pot. He blinked once. "Wow Akane, that actually looks like jello."

"It's udon, you idiot!"

Ranma blinked several times before taking a closer look. "Isn't udon supposed to have noodles in it?"

"Of course it does, you idiot. I put plenty of noodles in, they just dissolved is all."

"The noodles… dissolved?"

"Yes, now try some." Akane demanded her temper starting to go off the scale. She had put a lot of work into making this meal and Ranma wasn't showing any gratitude at all.

"Yes, boy, it's a fiancé's duty to try their fiancée's cooking first after all." Genma exclaimed as he nearly pushed Ranma into the pot.

"Oh hell no! I ain't trying it." Ranma proclaimed as he tried to get away as fast as possible. Unfortunately, he didn't get too far.

"RANMA YOU IDIOT!" Akane growled with fury as she hefted her trusted shinai and brought it down with a mighty thump sending Ranma straight into the pot.

The reaction was immediate, what was once an apparent brown jello boiled up and wrapped itself around Ranma's head. Dazed by the blow, Ranma didn't notice that he was being enveloped until it was far too late. He tried to breathe and found no air. That was before something slid into his mouth, moments later his world went black.

Everyone else either sat or stood shocked as the once calm jello engulfed Ranma whole making his stiff body drop to the ground. This lasted all of two minutes before pandemonium erupted.

Every one ran around talking all at once before Nabiki screamed at the top of her lungs "STOP" Everyone quieted looking expectantly at the middle Tendo. "Kasumi, check Ranma and get that stuff off him if you can. Akane, call Tofu and get him here on the double. You two, get some hot water and soap to help Kasumi." Nabiki ordered as she ran to get some towels to help with the process.

When she returned she found Kasumi trying to get close to Ranma, but staying a fair distance away.

"What's happening Kasumi?" Nabiki asked as she came beside her.

"I can't get near it, it keeps spitting and hissing."

"Damn, could you at least tell anything about Ranma?"

"He seems to be alive, but I can't get close enough to find a pulse."

Akane ran into the room just before the two fathers with soap, water, mop, and a tennis racket.

"Doctor Tofu is on his way." Akane exclaimed, trying to get around Nabiki to take a look at Ranma.

"Is the boy alright?" Genma asked as he set the soap and water he carried down.

"I don't know," Nabiki answered as she tried to step to Ranma's prone form only to hop away as splatters of whatever enveloped Ranma splashed itself at her, burning a nice two inch hole through the floor.

"It's acidic!" Nabiki proclaimed as she hastily stepped further away.

"If that is true then how is Ranma alive in there?" Akane asked.

"I have no idea Akane. We'll have to wait for Tofu to get here to find out."

"Did someone call? What's the emergency?" Turning around everyone saw a bent over and wheezing form of Dr. Tofu squatting in the front entrance of the house.

"Dr. Tofu, are you alright?" Kasumi asked, walking forward to check on their guest.

"Oh, Kasumi, What a wonder meeting you here of all places." Dr. Tofu said standing straight up with a large goofy smile spread across his face.

"We don't have time for this." Nabiki proclaimed before running up to the doctor and releasing a harsh slap across his left cheek.

"What? Where am I?" Tofu asked as he dazedly looked around.

"Doctor, get over it, Ranma is covered by some kind of goop." Nabiki stated, pointing towards said boy.

"Oh my gosh. How did this happen?" Tofu asked as he rushed forward to look at the boy.

"Doctor, don't get close!" Akane exclaimed, reaching out to stop him from an acid bath.

"What do you mean, Akane?" He replied while closely examining Ranma without a trace of acid splattering anywhere.

"Ahhh, it was shooting acid at everyone else when we tried to get the stuff off."

"It's a good thing you didn't. It appears to be the only thing keeping him alive."

"What do you mean Doctor Tofu?" Genma asked.

"Ranma isn't breathing, yet he is maintaining a steady pulse. Whatever this stuff is, it is feeding him oxygen."

"Well, if we get rid of the stuff then the boy will be able to breath for himself." Genma exclaimed holding his mop up in a combat stance.

"NO! He could go into shock, besides, his lugs are not working. We have no way of knowing if he will start breathing again. He could suffocate to death."

"But that stuff could be doing all sorts of stuff to him." Akane exclaimed pointing to enwrapped pigtail martial artist.

"Maybe so, but for the moment it is also the only thing keeping him alive." Dr. Tofu said as he gently lifted Ranma by the rug that he had fallen on, carrying him upstairs into the guestroom and gently placing him on the boy's futon.

Everyone followed standing hesitantly outside the door, watching with mixed emotions.

"So, what do we do now?" Akane asked, breaking everyone's attention away from Ranma.

Tofu shook his head. "There isn't much we can do. I would like to know a few things however. For starters, where did this ooze come from?"

"Well, it's the udon I made for dinner."

Doctor Tofu blinked twice. "Doesn't udon have noodles?" He asked in a confused voice.

"I know that! It just came out that way." Akane said her voice increasing in tempo as anger overrode fear.

"Ok, ok, I was just wondering. Now, what exactly went into making it? If we have that, maybe we can find out what we are dealing with."

"Um, I'm not sure…?"

Crickets suddenly became audioable in the background.

"Ok… could you show me which bottles you used?" Dr. Tofu asked as he shook his head several times.

"I guess." Akane answered before turning around to walk downstairs.

"In the meantime, will someone keep watch over Ranma to see if anything changes in his status?" Tofu asked turning to the rest of the people crowded in the small room.

"I will." Kasumi offered with a small smile. A large grin started to spread over the good doctor's face before Nabiki sighed and moved to block his vision of Kasumi with an arm outstretched, ready for another good slap. Almost instantly, Tofu shook himself and turned to follow Akane lightly tracing the bright red mark from the girl's earlier attempt to keep him practical.

"The girl packs almost as much power as Akane." He mumbled under his breath.

Nabiki paid him no mind, instead turning back to Kasumi. "Is there anything you need, sis?"

"Oh no Nabiki, I should be fine for the moment."

"In that case, lets see if we can find out how Akane made whatever that stuff is." She indicated vaguely at Ranma's comatose form.

The fathers and Nabiki headed down stairs into the kitchen to find Akane looking quizzically around at the various items scattered haphazardly around the kitchen in what could only be described as post Akane cooking.

"I think I also put some white wine in to add to the flavor," Akane mentioned as she held a bottle of vinegar. "I also put a dash of salt to offset the extra sugar I put in," Akane indicated two containers one with bold letters, '**Extra potent Chinese Herbs**' and another with large text '**Danger, do not consume, keep away from small children**'. "And of course I added the noodles," Akane said indicating the garbage can full of udon noodles.

"I didn't see any noodles in what ate Ranma." Nabiki spoke up.

Akane grumbled that everyone kept bringing that sore point back up. "I know, every time I put more noodles in, it just dissolved, I figured that they would come back later."

Another long silence ensued.

"What? What was I suppose to think when they disappeared?" Akane asked, starting to get annoyed that no one understood.

"Never mind, was there anything else that you added to the noodles?" Tofu asked a little hesitant considering the answers he had received so far.

"Um… no I think that was about it." She said to the relief of every one present.

"Ok, I'll take these back to the lab and see if I can find out what they are made of. If anything happens to Ranma, give me a call and I'll be right over." Tofu said holding up a large bag with everything that Akane had indicated was used in her recipe.

"What do you mean, made of? Didn't I just tell you?" Akane asked making everyone stare at her again. "Why does everyone keep looking at me like that?" Akane's temper was starting to boil over again.

Tofu took a deep breath before replying to the youngest Tendo. "I just want to see if there is anything else that might be in those containers that could have caused such a reaction."

"Oh, ok, why didn't you just say so?"

Dr. Tofu didn't bother to answer as he took the bag with all the items that Akane had pointed out before leaving.

"Well, until Dr. Tofu gets back with the results there isn't much more we can do, so why don't we all try to get some rest while we can." Nabiki said before turning to go up to her room.

The remaining three figures in the kitchen all looked at each other before shrugging and following Nabiki's example.

* * *

All was quite in the Tendo compound. Not even a mouse was stirring. Everyone was comfortably asleep in their beds. All except one; Kasumi kept her constant vigil over Ranma, determined to make sure that he was alright. 

Slowly the minutes began to drag out and Kasumi's eyes began to droop. Near 2:00 AM Kasumi drifted off to sleep. It was unfortunate that she did so as she never saw the neon green light flash through the room, waking more then one neighbor with the light coming from the window. No, Kasumi was definitely a heavy sleeper.

* * *

Covered comfortably in her nice warm blanket, Kasumi stirred from rest the next day. She cracked open her dream filled eyes only to shut them quickly from the intense sun pouring through the window. Slowly they adjusted until she was able to open them once more. When she did, she stood up in shock. 

'I'm late starting breakfast!' She exclaimed, standing up. At the door, she hesitated. There was something that she was supposed to do. Wait, she hadn't woken up in her own bed. Why was she in a strange room? In a blur of images all the events of yesterday came pouring back into her mind.

Turning sharply, Kasumi gasped at what she beheld. "Oh my!" She exclaimed

It isn't often that Kasumi yells, when she does everyone comes running.

"What's wrong Kasumi?" Nabiki asked having been the first to reach her sister's frozen form.

Unable to speak, Kasumi hesitantly pointed in front of her.

Nabiki's only recently awoken eyes attempted to focus on what she was pointing at. There was a futon and Ranma asleep. Nabiki blinked and rubbed her eyes. "Damn I'm seeing double." Opening her eyes once more they widened dramatically. "Wait a minute, there are two Ranmas!" She asked now clearly seeing Ranma on his futon with a girl type Ranma laying on top of him in a very intimate kiss. "I think this warrants the 'something' that Tofu mentioned last night," Nabiki finished as she shook herself out of her stupor to get by all the people now crowding around the room.

As she raced downstairs a sudden red aura sprang into existence outside Ranma's room.

"OUCH!" Genma cried as he got caught by the flaring, burning the arm of his typical kempo outfit.

Turning he came face to face with mount Saint Akane, ready for its daily eruption as it spotted the two laying on Ranma's futon.

"That… That pervert!" Akane yelled as she hefted her infamous shinai; slowly stalking towards the target of her ire.

"No Akane, we don't know what is going on." Kasumi stated, standing in Akane's path.

Still furious, Akane slowed her advance staring straight into Kasumi's eyes. "What more is there to know? He is sleeping with a naked woman in a deep kiss," exclaimed Akane, pointing at the two.

"And if you would have looked closer, you would have noticed that Ranma still has his cloths on and that whatever or whoever that girl is, she is breathing for him." Nabiki commented as she walked back up the stairs. "Doctor Tofu should be here any time now."

Struggling to reign in her anger, Akane let her shinai slide out of her hands before turning and stomping away.

Everyone was so distracted by all the noise that they didn't notice that the girl type Ranma was starting to shift her eyes scrunched at all the ruckus interrupting her sleep.

"What?" A drowsy voice asked causing everyone to turn around again. Immediately the fathers turned away from a naked female Ranma curiously looking around the room.

"Oh my." Kasumi uttered before zipping across the room, wrapping the girl in the blanket she had once slept under.

Turning towards the new sensation across its skin, the female Ranma froze at all the people in the room. Lowering herself she grabbed onto Ranma, shivering.

Kasumi turned to everyone who was gawking in the background. "You're scaring her. Please leave for a few minutes so that I may speak with her.

Reluctantly, everyone moved out of the room, taking positions just outside to hear anything that was said.

Kasumi only sighed. "I guess that is the best I can expect." Turning back to the girl that desperately clung onto Ranma, Kasumi knelt down beside her.

"Hello, who are you?" Kasumi asked fairly certain that if this was Ranma stuck in his cursed form he would not be acting this way.

"My name?" The girl asked calming down with the close contact to Ranma and the soothing tone that Kasumi used. "My name is…Ranko!" Ranko said happily as she snuggled closer to Ranma.

"Ranko, that's a nice name."

Ranko nodded her head still snuggling up to Ranma.

"And where did you come from?"

Ranko's brow creased before widening, "Mother! I come from mother."

"Mother? Who is your mother, Ranko?"

"I spotted Dr. Tofu down the street, he should be here soon," Akane mentioned as she walked back into the room.

"Mommy!" Ranko cried as she glomped onto Akane.

Everyone stood stunned as they looked at the two in the middle of hall, glad that the blanket had kept with the young woman.

"M..M..mommy?" Akane asked in a hushed voice.

"Yes, you talked to me when I was young and taught me everything that I know." Ranko gushed.

"What's happening here?" a drowsy voice asked back in the room.

Everyone turned to see Ranma bleary eyes looking around.

"RANMA!" Ranko exclaimed with double her previous enthusiasm as she shifted glomping targets to the young pigtailed boy.

"AHH!" Not expecting the sudden contact as well as still feeling woozy from whatever happened the night before, Ranma slumped back down on the futon with Ranko on top of him.

"What's goin' on here? What's my girl side doing out?" Ranma exclaimed as he looked up to find a mess of very familiar red hair and a figure he was more accustomed to wearing rather then feeling against him.

"I'm Ranko, mommy made me just for you and I love you Ranma."

* * *

Author's post notes: 

This will end up being a Ranma/Ranko fic.

I've taken to updating fics based off of two criteria; interest and number of reviews. If twenty or more people review I know that others would like to see more and I'm happy to oblige by making the story a priority. If not, the stories will be updated based off of my interest in writing them which can shift from story to story.


	2. Ranma’s ill?

Author's notes: Wow, there were so many wonderful reviews I felt super motivated to write! Not near weebee speed, but faster then I have ever managed before. No one has proof-read to catch any mistakes that I may have missed. Anyone interested in proof-reading for this story just send a message to brindani2000(at symbol)yahoo(dot)com.

Disclamer: I don't own Ranma ½ or any characters therein.

**For the Love of Akane's Cooking**

By: brindani

Chapter 2: Ranma's ill?

Ranma was floored, pinned by a pleasant red headed weight lightly squeezing him. 'Oh no, not the L word again; the one thrown around by all of my fiancées. Well what can I expect?' Ranma thought resigned to the continued insanity that seemed to dominate his life.

"L…Love?" Ranma stuttered out.

Oblivious to his discomfort, Ranko continued to cuddle up to Ranma for all she was worth, her blanket slipping again with the continuous movement.

"Ranko, I believe I have some old dresses that may fit you." Kasumi offered as she rushed in before another awkward scene could develop. Quickly she gathered the young girl up, and dashed Ranko to her own room.

Ranma, relieved that he was off the hook, tiredly wiped his brow.

Ranma turned to the other people still gawking after the eldest Tendo. "What's going on here?" He asked more then a little confused.

The first to come to her senses, Nabiki turned away from the recently closed door to look back at Ranma, "You know just about as much as we do, Saotome. Apparently that girl is the goo that covered you last night from Akane's meal." Nabiki indicated by shrugging towards the door that the girl had disappeared into.

"WHAT! I didn't make that… that girl." Akane screeched.

"Quite down sis. She is just in the other room; it wouldn't be hard for her to hear you.

Akane humphed before stomping down the hall into her own room, slamming the door behind her.

Ignoring Akana, Ranma continued to seek answers from Nabiki.

"So it is a copy of my girl side?" 'I always thought that Akane's cooking would jump out of the pot one day and greet me face to face, I just didn't expect it to have such a great figure.'

"I don't know. Tofu should be here soon. Hopefully he will be able to find out."

"Did someone call me?" asked a voice from the stairway.

Everyone shifted their attention to see Dr. Tofu walking up the stairs, curiously watching them.

"Dr. Tofu." Ranma acknowledged

"Has something happened? I tried to get here as fast as possible, but it took a little while to wrap up that last experiment."

"Well, that is somewhat hard to explain," Akane answered, walking out of her room after hearing Tofu's voice.

"Well I see that Ranma is back up and walking so things seemed to have resolved themselves." Tofu said with a pleasant smile.

"Dr. Tofu, it is so nice to see you."

Tofu's glasses instantly fogged up. "Kasumi, what are you doing here of all places?"

He instantly sobered as Nabiki delivered another slap across the cheek.

Tofu lightly rubbed his sore cheek.

"Hello mister Tofu." Tofu blinked as he noticed an additional person peeking out from behind Kasumi. Standing straight he turned back to Nabiki critically examining Ranma as he stood confused and slightly disoriented.

"Nabiki, please do not slap me anymore, I'm seeing double."

Nabiki sighed as she closed her eyes, feeling another migraine coming on. "It isn't your vision, Doctor; there really are two of them."

Dr. Tofu blinked again before looking between the two; tentatively speaking after a few seconds of inspection. "Ranma?" he asked of the male woozily standing next to Nabiki.

"Yes doctor?"

Turning to Ranma's female form, Tofu blinked again. "Ranma?"

"No, Ranko, silly." Tofu shook his head. Seeing what he viewed as Ranma's cursed form acting feminine without any apparent motivation was very disconcerting.

"Do you like my dress, Ranma?" asked Ranko as she ran past Kasumi, up to Ranma and giving a nice twirl in her knee high light blue outfit with a lovely rose motif.

Ranma blinked. He wasn't sure what to say. Even he had to admit that the dress looked very nice, but it was on his girl side which, unless he was in disguise, was a bad thing. Still, he had to remember this wasn't him.

"It does look good on you." Ranma replied, leaning against the door frame. He wasn't feeling coherent for some reason.

Ranko squealed, running to Akane, clutching her hands and jumping up and down in excitement.

"Did you hear that, mommy! Ranma liked the nice dress aunty Kasumi let me borrow. He really liked it!"

Akane stood dumbfounded while Kasumi raised her eyes and shook her head. 'I'm too young to be an aunt.' She thought, slightly depressed.

Akane was saved from answering by a helpful chough, drawing the young girl's attention back to a very perplexed Dr. Tofu.

"Excuse me, what's going on?"

* * *

Still shaking his head, Doctor Tofu helped a lethargic Ranma hobble towards his clinic. Goo becoming a person was amazing and unusual, even given all the weirdness surrounding Nerima. Medical implications alone for such a vast reconstruction were astounding. If it could be applied on a limited scale then replacement limbs could become a reality. 

That the girl had a separate personality from Ranma was even more intriguing. He would have to do extensive testing to find out exactly what happened, but already he was excited. That he could still be excited after two days with no sleep was impressive for the good doctor. He had stayed up all night trying to identify all of the different ingredients from Akane's little foray into chemistry.

Seeing his clinic ahead, Tofu walked a little faster as if a child approaching an all you can eat candy factory. After ushering Ranma inside, everyone else following after, he directed both Ranko and Ranma to sit down in separate examination rooms.

Starting with Ranma, Tofu gave each a thorough examination, finding that they both appeared healthy, if a little exhausted in Ranma's case. Ranko was on the opposite end of the spectrum, peppy and wide-eyed as a newborn toddler. Now that Tofu thought about it, she kind of was. Still, something seemed to be odd about the whole situation, aside from the obvious.

"Ok, I'll need to take a blood sample. Ranko? Ranko?" Tofu called twice before receiving her full attention which had wandered to a chirping bird out on the windowsill. He didn't know if she understood, so took out the needle to draw the sample.

He was further surprised when there was absolutely no reaction to the whole process. Most people would have been watching him at the very least. This girl didn't even flinch when he inserted the syringe.

"What is that?" Ranko asked, pointing with her unhampered hand towards the window.

Tofu glanced back, taking a better look. The bird had a white breast, brown head that was currently cleaning feathers from one of its light brown wings.

"That's a sparrow." Tofu replied realizing why she had been so good, she hadn't even known he was doing it. Smiling to himself, he capped the sample he had just taken.

"A sparrow…" Ranko's eyes went wide with amazement as the bird jumped off the window and flew into the air.

Nodding his head, Tofu took the vile and wrapped Ranko's elbow with a bright purple latex band. "This will take a little while to complete, why don't you have a seat in the waiting room with the others while I examine this in the lab?" Tofu asked before leaving through a door labeled Lab.

Tentatively, Ranko stood, walking to the window, looked around until she spotted the same bird in a nearby tree. It was feeding some squawking baby chicks in a nest. "Wow." Ranko whispered before reluctantly leaving out the door she had entered through.

Entering the main waiting room, Ranko's eyes lit up as she spotted Ranma. The young red head repressed a squeal when she noticed that the chair next to him was unoccupied. She quickly walked up to the pigtailed youth and watched him, shuffling her feet uncertainly.

Hearing something in front of him, Ranma cracked open his eyes, and lifted his head to meet Ranko's startling blue gaze. It was a little disconcerting looking into the face of his girl side without a mirror.

"What do you want?" Ranma asked cautiously, not sure how to act given the situation. Usually girls expected him to know exactly what was on their mind and give it to them without being asked. If he wasn't fast enough to offer, he usually got hit by something heavy and blunt.

"Could I… could I sit next to you?" asked the girl shyly.

Confused, Ranma looked to his left where his pop had fallen asleep long before his own examination was complete, snoring, and slumped half way down the seat. Turning to his right he found an empty chair. His brow raised, someone actually asked for his permission? Was the apocalypse starting or something? Not seeing any meteors when he checked the window, Ranma shifted his attention back to the girl whose eyes where scrunched in worry. He blinked several times. He knew that expression, he had worn it himself on occasion when he was by himself and something was tearing him up inside. Mind you, he made sure that no one ever found him like that.

"Sure, have a seat." Ranma almost had to shield his eyes after exposure to a thousand watt smile. 'Damn, no wonder that ice-cream kid gave me so much with something that intense aimed at him.'

Happily, the girl sat down next to Ranma who laid his head back, the feeling of drowsiness hitting him hard.

"Are you alright, Ranma?"

Forcing his way through the nausea, Ranma found a concerned Ranko watching him closely.

"Yup, I'm the best. I'll be fine soo…" Ranma slumped back in his chair.

"Ranma? Ranma?"

Her yell drew the attention of the rest of the Tendo household who quickly came over to find out what was happening.

"What's wrong, Ranko?" Kasumi asked as she happened to be the closest non-snoring individual there.

"Ranma just fell back while talking!" She answered pointing to Ranma's slumped form.

Kasumi nodded before taking Ranma's wrist to feel for a pulse. Finding it steady, if a little slow, she examined his face. She quickly noticed his eyelids shifting up and down. Smiling she turned back to the distraught girl.

"Ranma will be just fine. He is just sleeping. Whatever happened last night must have really tired him out." She said soothingly.

"So he'll be alright?" Ranko asked one of the few people she knew in the world she recently found herself in.

Kasumi smiled down at the girl. Ranko reminded her of herself when a close friend of hers was involved in a traffic accident; very distraught and in need of comfort. "Yes, he just needs to rest. Why don't you look after him while he sleeps?" Kasumi suggested to the endearing girl.

A slow smile spread across Ranko's cheeks before she nodded her head. "I'll make sure that Ranma gets his sleep!" She stated before shifting her head back and fourth almost as if she expected something to spring from the shadows to disturb Ranma's rest.

Kasumi smiled before going back to her seat to wait for the nice doctor to find out what was happening with their new guest.

* * *

Thirty minutes later found an even more confused doctor scratching his head while walking through the door. 

Everyone's attention was drawn to him as if a moth to a blazing inferno.

His nose stuck in his papers, Dr. Tofu was unaware that he had become the center of attention.

"Well doc, what is going on?" Nabiki asked, her hand out in case the good doctor got a case of the Kasumi highs.

Casually looking up, Tofu sighted Nabiki and immediately ducked. 'I think I'm beginning to see how Ranma has felt ever since he arrived.' Tofu thought to himself before standing up, finding everyone watching him.

"From what I can gather, it looks very odd. The sample consisted of multiple substances, some of which I could not identify. What is really odd is that this substance is actually changing into a variation of Ranma's girl side's DNA. Well, at least half of it is."

Seeing Tofu reimmerse himself into the various papers he held, Nabiki decided to field a few questions. "What do you mean 'a variation of Ranma's DNA'?"

"Hmm? Oh, I've compared it to the records we have on file for Ranma and found that they are very similar, but not an exact match. I would have expected her to be closer to a sister, but apparently that isn't the case. If I had to make a comparison it would be like she was a forth or fifth cousin of Ranma's.

What is really odd is that half of it perfectly matched with Akane's DNA. It was only luck I happened to run it against everyone living in the Tendo home." Akane stiffened her eyes as wide as they would allow.

"What does that mean?" Akane asked, more then a little frightened of the answer.

"Again, I can only speculate, but in a general sense she would be your daughter."

"da..da..daughter?"

"Congratulations Akane, you're the first person since the virgin Mary to have a child without doing _it_." Nabiki said smirking.

"But how?" Akane asked, not even hearing Nabiki's remark.

"I don't know. Did you happen to cut yourself while making the udon?" Tofu asked.

Akane looked down at her finger, covered by a band-aid with various puppy dogs playing.

Taking a guess from the appearance of Akane's finger, Tofu continued. "There is still a lot I'm going to have to go through. I'll keep you informed, but the best thing to do for now is return home and rest. Especially Ranma as the whole ordeal appears to have drained him considerably." Tofu finished, gesturing to the lightly snoring boy.

"Ok, we'll head home," Nabiki replied, looking expectantly to Genma now awake after a swift kick from Akane.

"Boy, wake-up, we're going home now," Genma said, whapping his son on the head.

"What? What's goin' on pops?" Ranma asked as he lifted drowse eyes to Genma.

"We're going home. Now get up before you embarrass me further."

"Embarrass you, ha what a laugh." Ranma said as he slowly stood up and staggered towards the doorway.

"Ranma, are you alright?" Ranko asked as she hovered next to his sagging form.

"Never been bett…" Ranko let out a small grunt of surprise as she found herself supporting Ranma's full weight.

Dr. Tofu was there moments later, taking Ranma out of her hands. "On second thought, it might be better if Ranma remained here."

"What's wrong with him?" Ranko asked, quickly becoming hysterical.

"Calm down Ranko. I will check him again and see if I can find out."

Ranko followed Tofu as he carried Ranma's limp form into an examination room.

Tofu inspected Ranma once more, his pulse was steady yet slow. Still, there didn't appear to be anything physically wrong with him. Dr. Tofu stood back before sighing.

"Could everyone please leave for a moment? I need to think on what might be causing this," he requested after turning around to find Genma, Soun, and Akane trying to crowd around him with Nabiki and Kasumi standing just outside the door. Hesitantly, everyone left to wait. Akane looked like she was going to fight for her right to remain, but his steady yet firm gaze informed her otherwise.

He was about to shew Ranko out as well, but noticed she hadn't looked away from Ranma since Tofu laid him on the table. She was shifting from one foot to the other twisting her fingers into her dress anxiously.

Sighing again, he gently guided Ranko into the seat next to Ranma's bed, lightly shifting her head to face him. It took several moments for her eyes to meet his.

"Ranko, I can see you are really worried about Ranma. You may stay if you remain quite, okay?" She slowly nodded her head before looking back to Ranma.

"Hey, why does she get to stay with him?" Akane demanded after opening the door to find out where their newest addition had gone to.

Tofu turned back to Akane, taking a stern stance, which made Akane take a step back.

"I do not think that Ranma suddenly becoming lethargic is just a coincidence, Akane. I believe the reason behind it is tied with Ranko's appearance. If I need her I won't have to continually come out to retrieve her. Now please stay in the waiting room while I look into what is happening," Tofu explained, finally loosing patients after three days of non-stop work.

Sufficiently cowed, Akane left after gently closing the door. Tofu shook his head again. There was a lot of things happening recently that made no sense, but they typically didn't here in Nerima.

Returning to Ranma's side, he found that Ranko had taken his words quite seriously as she sat just watching Ranma with eyes brimming with unshed tears.

Somehow there was a connection between the two, he was certain. Maybe when Ranko was made it took something out of Ranma? Still there was nothing apparently wrong with Ranma.

Tofu started to rub his temples as he felt the perpetual headache that had plagued him since this all started, increase in tempo. 'Ok, let's review what we do know. Some of the items that Akane used when preparing that dish of _Udon_ were very potent herbs that I haven't been able identify yet. Getting a second opinion from someone familiar with Chinese herbs like Cologne would probably help, but with Ranma in a weakened state the price may be his freedom, not to mention how Shampoo would react once she finds Ranko looking after Ranma so diligently.'

Tofu smiled as he watched the touching scene between the two in front of him when something clicked. To test this new idea, Tofu made his way to the sink across the room, filled a glass full of water and returned to the examination table to splash Ranma with it. Tofu was startled when nothing happened except some slight tossing from Ranma before he quieted.

'It appears Ranko absorbed the curse. Perhaps after living with it for so long it has created some kind of dependence. Now that he is free of it, he is suffering from some form of withdrawal? If it is withdrawal then Ranma just needs some time.' Holding his head again, Tofu realized that he wouldn't be able to do much more for now. If his conjecture was right, he wouldn't need to until tomorrow. Nodding his head he walked back into the waiting room where every eye locked onto him once more.

"Everyone, I think it would be best if Ranma was kept here for observation. I know it is hard, but I think it would be best if you all returned home. I will contact you if anything happens." Akane opened her mouth to argue, but stopped when she felt Kasumi's hand lightly touch her shoulder. Lowering her eyes she allowed Kasumi to lead them out with everyone else following closely.

Turning, Dr. Tofu was surprised to find Ranko standing in front of him, looking at him with large puppy dog eyes. Smiling down to her, he lowered himself so that they were eye to eye.

"Ranko, can you do something very important for me?" He asked as she sniffed.

"What?" she asked.

"Could you stay here and watch Ranma for me? I haven't slept for two days. I don't think anything will happen, but I need someone I can rely on to look after him. Do you think you are up to it?"

He was rewarded with a hesitant smile and a nod of Ranko's head.

"Good girl," Tofu said patting her head before moving to his bedroom.

Ranko returned to the examination room; the doctor was trusting her and she wouldn't let him down.

Going back into the room, she scooted her chair closer to Ranma's bed, watching his relaxed face. 'He looks so peaceful.' She thought as she observed him laying there.

A small frown crossed her face. She knew that this was somehow her fault. She must have taken something from Ranma. If only she could somehow give it back. Her thoughts faded as she felt sleepy herself. Lightly, she placed her head on Ranma's chest soon falling asleep.

* * *

Ranma let a large yawn loose as he stretched his stiff arms out. 'That was quite a nap. It feels like I've been sleeping for days.' Ranma blinked as he realized that he wasn't in his room. 'Where am I?' 

Looking around, he recognized Tofu's favorite dancing partner, Betty, hanging in the corner. 'Doctor Tofu's office? Why am I here? Did I get hurt or something?' moving his body around, Ranma was surprised to find that not only did he feel ok, he felt great! He felt like doing advanced kata's for a week straight. He had never felt this good.

Hopping out of bed, Ranma walked out the door and straight into Tofu who was rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"What? Ranma, what are you doing out of bed?" Tofu asked as he managed to replace his glasses to look up at Ranma.

"I don't know what I was doing here in the first place, doc."

"You don't remember? What about the day before yesterday with the udon and Ranko?"

"Ranko?" Ranma thought deeply. Somehow his memory felt a little clouded, but he did remember something about his girl side walking around. "You mean that wasn't a dream?" Ranma asked.

"What do you mean dream? Didn't you pass her on your way out?"

Ranma blinked. There hadn't been anyone that he could remember in the room with him. To verify, he checked into the examination room, looking critically around he didn't spot anyone.

Tofu was doing likewise beside him with a perplexed expression. 'I left her here. I know I did. It looked like she wasn't going to leave even if a hurricane came through. Was it really a dream? Guess there is only one way to find out.

Tofu walked past Ranma back into the room straight to the sink and refilling the glass sitting there with cold water. Turning around, he tossed the water at Ranma who spluttered as he found him now her face full of water.

"What did you do that for?" Ranma demanded trying to rub the water off of his currently female features.

Tofu blinked before shaking his head. Apparently he had been staying up way to much recently. 'I have to work on getting a full eight hours of sleep at least once ever three days.'

"You look alright Ranma, you can leave." Tofu said, uncertain what was happening anymore. He watched Ranma leave through the front door before sighing. 'I better get some more sleep.' He was about to move thought to action when he noticed one of Kasumi's old dresses lying in the chair. Picking it up, Tofu ran to the front door to catch Ranma.

"Ranma, could you…" Tofu looked around finding no trace of Ranma, but did see an odd trail of leaves fluttering in the air in the direction of the Tendo's

'Guess I'll have to return it.' He thought, leaving for what was becoming a common house call.

* * *

The currently female Ranma simply shook his head as he walked out of the clinic's door. Stuff like this always seemed to be happening. He just didn't think that the doc was going to get in on all the weirdness. 

Ranma strolled out into the bright sunshine and smiled. He felt like a million bucks and couldn't keep it contained. Dash away, Ranma starting running faster then he ever remembered going in his life. It was exhilarating, the wind blasting past him. He appeared a blur to anyone happening to look in his direction.

Far too soon for his liking, Ranma reached his destination. He was tempted to go around the block a couple more times, but reconsidered when he took a deep breath of fresh air only to gage when he caught a whiff of himself. Thinking back, he realized that it must have been several days since his last bath.

Walking into the house, Ranma deposited his slippers next to all the others before heading into the house. It was still early yet so he wasn't surprised when he only found Kasumi in the kitchen making breakfast.

"Hey, Kasumi, I'm home." Ranma greeted, walking past the kitchen and around the corner into the furo.

"Welcome home, Ranma." Kasumi said automatically while adding just a touch of salt into the meso. It took a couple of seconds before Kasumi blinked and turned towards the door. 'Ranma?' Hurrying out into the hall, Kasumi looked around only to find the hallway empty. "Oh my, I'm so worried I'm starting to hear things." Turning back, Kasumi resumed her preparation for breakfast.

Ranma quickly undressed, putting his soiled cloths in the hamper while making sure to place out the occupied sign. That was always a good idea as Akane had a tendency to walk in on him otherwise.

He was happy to find that the furo was already filled. 'Good ol' Kasumi, always on top of things.' Slipping in the bath, he sighed as the warm water enveloped him sending the familiar tingle he associated with his curse reversing go through his system.

"RANMA! YOU'RE ALRIGHT NOW!" Ranma jumped as he was glomped from behind by a female form not there a moment before.

"AAHHHH!"

* * *

Post author's notes: Is Ranma cursed now or not? I've left several clues to the answer, but you'll have to wait until chapter 3 to find all the details. 

I wanted to take a second and thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter,

**Thank you!**

brindani


	3. Cured!…or not?

Author's notes: Sorry about the long time since the last update. This chapter has not been proof-read so it may contain a few minor errors. If anyone is interested in prereading, send an email to brindani2000(at sign)yahoo(dot)com.

Disclamer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any characters used within the storyline.

**For the Love of Akane's Cooking**

By: brindani

Chapter 3: Cured!…or not?

"AHHH!" Ranma screamed, running out of the bath. Moments later, the door slammed open, revealing a hastily awakened Akane gawking at the scene before her.

"What is going on…" Akane stopped. Ranma was in front of her, not in the clinic; a good thing. He was butt naked, WHAT!

"Ranma!" Akane growled in a warning tone. She was about to tell Ranma off when a red headed blur burst out of the bath, latching onto Ranma's back.

Ranma flinched as the red aura of doom encompassed his uncute fiancée like a corona of wrath.

"It's not what you think!" Ranma declared still unsure what it was himself.

Akane's anger grew exponentially as Ranko appeared disinclined to detach anytime soon.

Holding her hand out, Akane instinctively siphoned energy into her hand. Slowly a radiating outline solidified into a large pulsing red mallet. Once formed, Akane lifted the implement of destruction to deliver her righteous justice.

"Oh no…" Ranma whispered as he saw the mallet rise to strike.

Ranko, having heard Ranma's voice, looked up to find Akane preparing to wallop both of them.

"No!" Ranko screamed, releasing Ranma and throwing herself in front of him, hands outstretched, placing herself squarely between Ranma and Akane's impending attack. "Ranma hasn't done anything wrong, momma. I was just happy to see Ranma doing better, that's all." She said trembling yet standing firm.

Disoriented by the unusual behavior, Akane stayed her hand. That moment was all the time it took for a drowsy Nabiki to stumble her way to the bathroom. The middle sister found Kasumi worriedly hovering in the hall, unsure of what to do as Akane was ready to use an eerie red glowing mallet on her fiancé.

"Akane, what are you doing?" Nabiki asked not even bothering to support herself as she leaned against the wall.

"The pervert was with that girl in the bathtub… NAKED!" Akane exclaimed, her anger going through the roof as she reaffirmed her concept of the situation.

"Right, and that is why he just screamed his head off. Sounds like a very intimate moment, really."

Akane's anger spluttered as she realized that her sister was right, Ranma wouldn't have screamed if he was doing something improper. With the anger gone, her flaring mallet dissolved, vanishing with an addible pop.

Shaking her head, Akane asked the best question she could come up with.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know, but shouldn't we let them get dressed before finding out?" Nabiki mentioned as she took note of Ranma standing several feet behind Ranko with her arms still spread.

"Awk! Put on a towel right now." Akane demanded, pointing at Ranko.

Ranko, seeing that Akane had cooled off, nodded her head before looking around.

Ranma recovered enough to hastily wrap a towel around himself; handed one to Ranko. Ranko, having watched Ranma, duplicated the maneuver, leaving her chest visible.

"No, no no." Akane cried, walking into the bathroom and wrapping the towel correctly around the girl before pointing out the door. "Now go to your room and get dressed."

"Yes, mommy." Ranko answered submissively, walking past her.

"Way to handle your kid, Akane."

Akane's face fell as she realized what she had just done.

"You do have to be firm when they are young. You don't want your daughter to become an exobitionist." Kasumi added.

Nabiki's drowsiness dissolved into a fit of laughter.

"Way to call it Kasumi." Nabiki managed as she held her aching sides.

"Whatever do you mean, Nabiki?" Kasumi asked innocently though a small smile betrayed her.

"Stop it you two." Akane demanded, a little embarrassed by their comments.

"Excuse me? Could you please leave while I dry off?" Ranma asked still standing with nothing, but a towel between him and the three sisters.

Jumping, Akane rushed out the door, Nabiki leaving under a new fit of giggles.

Even Kasumi was lightly chuckling as she left the thoroughly embarrassed pigtailed youth to close the door and dry himself.

* * *

Fully dried, Ranma walked up the stairs to his room were he was presented with another shock. Apparently Ranko didn't know what room was her's and decided to use the one she first found herself in. This meant she went to the guest room, aka Ranma's room. It also appeared that she had grabbed the first thing at hand to wear, one of Ranma's standard outfits.

Thus Ranma found himself facing Ranko hopelessly tangled in a pair of his typical Chinese clothing.

Ranma sighed, it just wasn't his day.

"Ranma! What are you doing standing in the hall with only a towel?" and it appeared to be getting worse.

Ranma only shook his head before facing Akane.

"Akane, I think I need you."

Akane's anger ground to an unexpected halt. 'Ranma needed her? But she wasn't ready for that yet, not until her marriage night.' Akane thought to herself nervously pocking her two index fingers together.

Ranma raised an eyebrow at the odd antics before walking around behind her.

"Yeah, I need you to help your _daughter_ get dressed." Ranma finished giving Akane a light push. Akane went careening off-balance into the guest-room, only barely stopping herself from falling. When she straightened herself, she found Ranko staring at her, half-clothed. Fortunately, all the important parts where covered.

"Mommy, could you help me? Pleaseeee?" Ranko asked with the most pleading puppy-dog eyes Akane had ever seen.

Akane sighed before walking over to Ranma's closet, gathering another pair of Ranma's cloths before walking to the door.

"You idiot, you didn't even get your own cloths to get dressed! Now get back to the furo and change." Akane screamed as she threw the cloths in Ranma's face before spinning around to deal with Ranko's problem.

* * *

Ranma was happy as he left the furo, fully dressed and feeling refreshed. He remembered most of what happened during the past couple of days. Though odd it still felt good somehow.

"Happy are we, Saotome?" Ranma frowned as he found Nabiki leaning against the wall outside of the furo, apparently waiting for him.

"What do you want, Nabiki?" Ranma asked knowing that he might as well get it over with as fast as possible.

"Mawa? What makes you think I would want something from you?" Nabiki asked giving her best I'm an innocent maiden look. It failed miserably.

"You never wait for me unless there is something that you want, so what is it?"

"Not much for small talk, are we? To be perfectly honest I want the same explanation as everyone else; what happened? You were dead on your feet at the clinic, falling over your prestigious martial artist feet. The last we saw, you were under observation. Now all of a sudden you are not only back, but, judging by all the screaming, you had an unexpected encounter with Ranko in the furo. Did she sneak past your guard or something?"

Ranma sighed as he leaned against the opposite wall from Nabiki. "I honestly don't know what happened. I woke up yesterday to find my girl side running around and feeling drained. I have never felt so exhausted. The only thing remotely like it was fights that lasted for hours. As time went by, it just seemed to get worse. I remember vaguely going over to Tofu's, but most of what happened after is blank. Next thing I know I'm in Tofu's clinic feeling better then I have ever felt before in my life.

For some reason Tofu splashed me with some cold water, said I looked alright and could go home. I get here to take a bath and there she was. I know the door never opened and she wasn't there when I entered, so I have no idea where she came from."

"Damn, guess we have to call Tofu again." Nabiki muttered, heading towards the phone.

Knock, Knock.

"Now who could that be?" Nabiki wondered, diverting her path to the door.

"I'll get it," drifted Kasumi's voice from the kitchen.

"Don't bother, Kasumi. I'm on my way." Nabiki called back to her older sister.

"Ok, thank you Nabiki."

"No problem."

Opening the door, Nabiki came face-to-face with Dr. Tofu.

"Wow, doc, I didn't even have to call you this time."

Tofu blinked, "I actually came to drop off the dress Kasumi left at my office. Was there something else you needed me for?"

"Wait, isn't that that what Ranko wore yesterday?" Nabiki asked as she took hold of her sister's old dress.

"So…it wasn't a dream?" Tofu asked

"Dream? Why would you think it was a dream?" Nabiki asked incredulously.

"Well, I haven't had much sleep recently and this morning Ranma seemed to have nothing wrong with him. Plus there was no sign of Ranko anywhere."

"Is that all? Did you think that maybe Ranma just needed a good nights sleep or Ranko might have come home?"

"Well, no, not really. Ranko was determined to look after Ranma last night. There was one other thing that led me to the conclusion. Last night I found Ranma wasn't cursed anymore. This morning when I couldn't find Ranko, I tested it again and his curse still appeared to be active. That is what brought me to believe that I had dreamt the whole thing."

"Wait a minute," Nabiki looked critically at the material she was holding. "So Ranko disappeared leaving behind the dress, but before that Ranma was cured of his curse?"

"Yeah, like I said I've already proven he still has it."

"I wonder, please come in." Nabiki offered absently before heading back into the kitchen where she dropped off the outfit on the counter before filling a small mug with cold water. After it was full she headed into the dinning room. She found Ranma just sitting to the side, waiting for breakfast.

What he got instead was another face full of water.

"Pfft," Ranma sputtered as he wiped away the water from his face. "What was that for Nabiki? Is it throw water on Ranma day or something?" the pigtailed boy demanded. He didn't receive an answer as Nabiki, Dr. Tofu and Kasumi were staring at him stunned.

"What? Do I have something on my face? Ranma asked as he noticed their stares.

"Ranma, what did I just do?" Nabiki questioned as she came back to herself.

"You threw water at me and…" Ranma blinked before peering down at his male chest. "…and I didn't transform!" Ranma screamed in delight as he swept Nabiki off of her feet and twirled her around.

"I don't mind the enthusiasm, Soatome, but if you don't put me down NOW I'm going to barf." Nabiki exclaimed, becoming green.

Hastily, Ranma set Nabiki down where she leaned heavily against the couch, one hand covering her mouth.

Not even bothering to check on Nabiki, Ranma continued to cheer "I'm cured! I'm cured! I can't believe it; I'm finally rid of the curse!" Ranma whopped before stopping in his tracks. "But this morning I turned into a girl. Why didn't I this time?" Ranma asked, uncharacteristically coming to a very valid point.

"I think I'm missing some information as well. Nabiki, you seem to know more of what is going on." Tofu asked the girl who was quickly recovering from her unexpected trip around the living room.

"I don't know myself, but I took a guess that Ranko took the curse from Ranma and then merged with him temporarily, giving it back."

"You mean that Ranko cured me?" Ranma asked excitedly, still buzzing from this unexpected good news.

"It appears that way."

"Did someone call my name?" Ranko asked, walking into the room.

Ranko blinked when all eyes turned to her. Before she knew it she was undergoing similar treatment to Nabiki with a vastly different result.

"WWWEEEEE!" Ranko cried out as she felt the air rush past her face.

Lightly placing her down, Ranma brought her to arms length, a goofing smile spread across his face. Ranko smiled too though she had no clue as to why Ranma was so happy, she just loved that he was.

"I could kiss you." Ranma, still exhilarated, put action to words and bent down meaning to give a small peck on the lips.

Ranko's eyes widened at the contact before they closed dreamily. Ranma tried to pull back, but Ranko wrapped her arms around his head, bringing him in for a deeper kiss.

By the time Ranko's arms loosened, both had goofy little grins.

"That…that was nice." Ranma muttered still looking off into the distance.

"Oh, our little Ranma has discovered girls; how cute." Nabiki drawled as she watched him shake it off.

"What? Oh, no that was an accident, nothing happened."

"Right, I really believe that. Next time at least try to hide the dreamy expression."

Ranma looked away, finding Ranko still smiling, her eyes unfocused and checks flushed.

"Anyway, we need to find out exactly what happened last night. Ranko? Ranko? Hello? Ranko. Anyone home?" Tofu asked, passing one hand in front of her face to try and get her attention.

"Damn Soatome, you must be one hell of a kisser," Nabiki mentioned as she watched Tofu's failed attempts to get the young girl's attention.

Ranma chuckled nervously, one hand tugging on his pigtail.

"Ranma, could you help me here? She may listen to you." Tofu asked as he once again failed to draw a response.

"Ok, uh, Ranko?" Ranma asked.

Slowly Ranko shook her head before directing her smile at Ranma.

"Yes Ranma?" She asked softly, obviously still on cloud nine.

"Doctor Tofu wants to talk to you."

"Thank you, Ranma. Now Ranko can you tell me what happened last night?"

Ranko slowly switched her attention to the doctor before leaning her head to the side in thought.

"I remember watching Ranma lay there and then getting tired myself. I couldn't keep my eyes open and I think I fell asleep." Ranko finished looking up to Dr. Tofu with a pout.

"What happened after that?"

Ranko's brow scrunched up as she tried to remember. Ranma smiled when he realized how cute it made her look.

"Well, I remember feeling free; wind blowing past me, but it was really hazy. I could have dreamed that part. Then I was in the furo and Ranma was ok. I was so happy." Ranko said before offering another large grin at said pigtailed boy.

"Why is Ranma screaming this time?" a tired voice drifted from the hall. Everyone turned to find a haggard Akane.

"Didn't you hear the news from up there?" Nabiki asked.

"I heard the ruckus; I was trying to take a nap after helping Ranko get dressed. I haven't had a good nights sleep since this whole thing started."

"Well, I know what you mean, a lot has happened recently, but it looks like Ranma has finally been cured." Tofu answered.

"Cured of what, his foot in mouth disease?" Akane asked hiding a yawn with one hand.

"You know sis, he isn't the only one afflicted with that particular ailment."

"What! What do you mean by that?" Akane demanded.

"Never mind, what is important is that Ranma has been cured of his Jusenkyö curse.

"What? No, it has to be another fake cure." Akane exclaimed rushing out of the room.

"What is she doing now?" Ranma asked.

Nabiki only looked after her younger sister before a wicked smirk crossed her face and she moved away from the entrance.

"I'll prove it, see!" Akane proclaimed as she reentered with a large pail of water, she launched its contents striking Ranma dead on. He spluttered as he tried to once again wipe water away from his face.

'I might be cured, but god I'm getting hit with more water now then I ever did with the stupid curse.' "What did ya do that for?" Ranma asked without any real venom as it appeared this was becoming a frequent event recently.

When his vision cleared, he found Akane's large eyes staring at his very wet male physique.

"But…how?" Akane mumbled, her startled limbs dropping the empty bucket.

"Nabiki, you explain it to Ms. Tardy here. I need to release some energy." Ranma said before leaping out the backdoor, lightly hopping once before disappearing behind the fence.

"Ranma, wait for me!" Ranko squealed as she tore out the front door, leaving everyone gawking after the girl's dust trail.

* * *

"Ranma?" Ranko asked as she came to a stop in front of the gate to the Tendo dojo. She looked one way and then the other with no sign of the missing boy.

"Where did he go?" Ranko asked, scratching her head in confusion.

"Prepare to die Ranma!" Ranko turned towards the noise, happy that someone appeared to have found Ranma for her. What she saw confused her. There was a boy with a yellow bandana charging straight at her with an umbrella held over his head.

"Do you know where Ranma is?" Ranko asked the boy as she certainly didn't see him behind her.

"You can't fool me Ranma."

Ranko's eyes widened in astonishment as the umbrella swung towards her.

'What!' Ranko found herself crashing against the wall, pain flaring through her body. Ranko clung to herself as the agony continued to spread, tearing at her very perception of reality.

"I…I won. I actually beat Ranma." Ryoga said as he watched the trembling figure before him.

"What the hell do you think you are doing, idiot!" Ryoga gasped as he was kicked from behind, sending him stumbling forward. Coughing, Ryoga looked back to find an enraged Ranma standing there.

Ryoga blinked. He looked between Ranko and Ranma before his eyes narrowed angrily. "You've found a new technique! I won't let you defeat me with such a weak double." So saying, Ryoga jumped up and started throwing punches at Ranma one after another.

Ranma easily dodged the punches, keeping an eye on Ranko to make sure she stayed conscious.

His attention strayed a little too far, allowing one of Ryoga's punches to clip his shoulder, sending him back several feet, clutching the injury.

'That shouldn't have hurt nearly that much. Has Ryoga been doing extra training?' Ranma critically reanalyzed the infuriated boy as he dove into close quarter combat. 'No, his punches are just as strong as before. There isn't a dramatic increase of strength; so what is going on?'

Left, right, right left, Ranma dodged the punches. He even found a few openings to counter attack, but ever time he tried he couldn't get in fast enough. Ryoga's guard would firm a split second before he could score. 'Why am I going so slow? This doesn't make any sense.'

BAM

A right hook slipped past Ranma's guard, sending him flying into a brick wall. The punch was quickly followed by a kick to the ribs, propelling him next to Ranko's quivering form, where he came to rest, completely unmoving.

An ominous crack of thunder echoed above.

For the second time in the last five minutes, Ryoga stopped with a giant silly smile spread over his lips.

"This time I really won. I won against Ranma and his newest technique. That means that Akane…" Ryoga's eyes drifted off as imagination took over.

Ranko's eyes slowly opened when the thump landed next to her. She caught sight of Ranma lying unmoving. Grunting in agony, she painfully crawled to him, collapsing against his blood soaked chest.

"Ranma… I'm… so sorry I couldn't… help you." She gasped out, her tears overflowing.

In waves, rain pounded the streets of Nerima.

* * *

Author's end notes: Yes, I'm ending on a cliff-hanger. It just seemed like a good place to stop for the moment. If you have any questions don't hesitate to email me or place them in a review and I will setup a Q&A section or email an answer directly.

As always, the more reviews the faster any individual story is updated. At 20 a story receives high priority and will be updated typically in two weeks if the next chapter hasn't been started.

Thanks for reading,

brindani


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